The Fallen
by Nemoww
Summary: Rune-Midgard's monster population has spiraled out of control, with most of the main cities overrun by ravenous MVPs and their mobs, can demi-humanity survive in such a chaotic environment?
1. Chapter 1

The world as we know it, is coming to an end. An event of catastrophic proportions which led to war and destruction has ravaged the population. Morroc was the first to fall and completely fallen to disrepair and been abandoned to the brutal desert winds. We've lost contact with the other cities as time went on, and travel had been rendered impossible by powerful wards put in place by boss monsters. Only Prontera and Izlude are left intact by the monster flooding in Rune-Midgard due to the presence of the major guilds, who repelled the invasion. The other cities were not so lucky, as refugees told stories of horror, about seeing relatively benign monsters suddenly attack and consume people, as if driven by rage against man himself.

Me? I was in relaxing in a nice little camp in Lutie field, when the Sasquatches started tearing into town. Although I dealt with the deranged bears, Lutie was already frozen shut. The toy factory had exploded with possessed toys, and the Stormy Knight within had become frenzied, killing everyone in the winter wonderland. But in times of chaos, there was always something that spurred on the heroism inherent in all man, indeed, it was here that I witnessed the jolly fat man, who wore his traditional red clothing, defending Lutie's children from the Stormy Knight. Although his efforts had cost him his life, he had stalled it enough so that I could jump in, and warp out all the children he was protecting. I rushed to his side, so that I could heal him, but he held up his hand, and he gave his warm cheery smile as he fell from his mortal wound, and waved me off. Before I could even react, I was pushed back by a powerful force, into the portal I had created. As I materialized in the Pronteran marketplace, I immediately turned myself invisible, and watched the guards accommodate the frightened children. This is when I decided that I would start personally investigating the sudden aggressiveness of the monsters in Rune-Midgard, as my way of honoring the noble sacrifice that Claus had done for the children of Lutie.

My contacts had informed my of the situation of the land, with most of the dungeons falling completely under monster control. The Guild Dungeons have also been sealed shut by their respective Guild Leaders, following the report of the monsters there becoming highly aggressive and even attempting to escape from their dungeons. Cities which had dungeons underneath them have also been overrun, and refugees were piling outside of Prontera at all its gates, with desperate people clamoring to get inside the relatively safe, walled city.

Strangely, the kings and rulers of the land have also mysteriously disappeared before the monster invasion, leaving their respective cities in a panic, and without a leader, the cities were in chaos, causing them to fall much earlier than expected. It was only due to the actions of the Guild Leaders that some semblance of order was maintained. But even the GL had the support of unique individuals, ones who wield great power, enough to change the tide of battle on their own.

In this world, individuals exist to have attained a level of power that surpasses that of a normal denizen of Rune-Midgard. To have attained such power, they have trained all their lives to be the best of their craft, whether it be smithing, alchemy, magic, or sheer physical might. Transcending by the power of the divine Valkyrie, a being sent down by the gods themselves, to aid man in his endeavor to be more than what he is born as. Now, those very men and women who have been awakened by the gods, lead the stalwart defense of the last cities standing in Rune-Midgard.

Though even in the Transcended Ones, there are those who stand out even in that group. Those who are almost godlike in their powers, and even revered as gods by some. This is the difference between attaining great power, and being born with great power. One of these enigmatic individuals is present for Prontera's defense, and it is indeed a sight to behold.

The Battle of Prontera Fields, that was when I first saw the so-called Crimson Lady in action. She wore the typical knight's armor for the women, but instead of the Pronteran teal, hers was dyed with the crimson of blood. I've even heard rumors that she used to wear teal, but it became crimson after slaying so many monsters. I spotted her emerging from her army's front lines, clad from head to toe in her armor. Immediately, an entire row of plate mail clad knights gave her a snappy salute, despite them being a foot taller than her. She had the respect of the men, that much is clear.

She strode right past them, and set her gaze upon the orcish horde. Her gloved hand squeezed the hilt of her sword tightly, and unsheathed it in one smooth motion. It was clearly made of Adamantine, the metal of the gods, nigh-indestructible, and extremely rare. It must have taken a fortune to forge a long sword with pure Adamantine, but it was her shield that gave me pause; for it resonated with unearthly energies, strong enough that I could sense it from a kilometer away. With her equipment, I could already deduce that she would be a powerful ally, but I needed to be sure. It was an oppurtunity I could not pass up, to see her in action.

I watched from the sidelines, trying to study her movement, her technique and her tenacity. The orcs had them terribly outnumbered, over a thousand to one, and orcs were strong and monstrous fighters. She charged right into the front lines, and started racking up quite a body count. Her diminutive frame threw the orcs off guard as her blade cut right through their armor. She dodged and parried what she could, and easily blocked steel-breaking blows with her shield. Ungodly strong and ridiculously fast, she tore through the orcs like they were made of paper, which broke the orcish morale and sent them off to retreat. Overall, her troops lost about a dozen men, while she emerged from the mountain of broken corpses that I've estimated to number to about seven hundred with her armor soaked from all the blood she had spilt. She wasn't even breathing hard, with all the acrobatics and killing that she did, her stamina is phenomenal to say the least.

Despite her fame and ability, none knew who she really was. Not even the guild who accepted her had any idea where she had come from, she had been awarded various boons, and has stayed loyal to her guild, even during several intense power shifts of their leaders. I would have loved to meet her, but I doubt I would get anywhere near her before I am found by the guards.

I resigned to merely observe for now, and to covertly assist the defenders when given the chance. A warrior of her caliber would be around for awhile, barring political dangers. Surely, we would meet again on the battlefield.


	2. Chapter 2

I started to traverse the wartorn Rune-Midgard, helping refugees along, and trying to make a dent in the skyrocketing monster population. I've even defeated several mini-bosses, but just before landing the final blow, they suddenly teleport away, as if summoned by another being. This is when I became suspicious that there was someone else who was behind the monster apocalypse.

Very few adventurers ventured from Prontera, and I've made it a point to render assistance to these brave souls.

I traveled south, escaping the blistering desert heat of the Sograt Desert, into the humid jungles of Payon. The monsters here were all aggressive, a far cry from their once gentle natures. Some had even morphed into their more powerful forms, especially the Spores which have transformed into Toxic Spores, which poison the very ground they stand on. I've killed what I could, but their numbers seem to regenerate at a fantastic rate, almost faster than I can kill them. Within minutes, hundreds of Toxic Spores were now surrounding me, ejecting clouds of poison mist to try and suffocate me. If I wasn't what I am, I would have died then and there. I quickly broke through their circle of death, and entered Payon City.

Payon City, once a glorious center for the Taekwon Masters, is now completely overrun by the zombies from the Caves. Silver arrows no longer worked properly, which led to the genocide of budding archers and even some hunters who were overwhelmed by the undead. But within one of the buildings, I had sensed a small group of people, still alive despite the ravenous horde of zombies outside. The door was warded by powerful yet failing magic, which allowed entry of anything living. Inside, was a party of 7 people, who were understandably shocked at my sudden appearance. Their leader approached me, a large and heavily armed man with a massive broadsword at his back, and though we had surely met before, my disguise had fooled his senses enough that he did not recognize me. He was the captain of the city's guard in Payon, a great man and one who could surely get rid of the monsters in Payon with little difficulty. But what was he doing here, holed up in a house in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?

Some of my questions were answered indirectly, as he requested my aid to help him defend his party, which consisted of 5 young archers and an exhausted high priestess who was maintaining the ward at the door. He could not leave to fight the zombies as the priestess was close to being unconscious due to her depleted mana, and although he and the priestess could escape with their Butterfly Wing items, he would have to leave behind the young archers, who are probably the last archers Payon would ever produce. The priestess had used up her last blue gemstones to produce warp portals for others, and failed to save one for themselves. The captain had a supply of blue gemstones near his station, but was unable to leave due to the failing ward. The archers were freshly minted, not even knowing how to properly fire an arrow from a bow, and without the guidance of a hunter, they were doomed if they cannot leave this place.

I had agreed to help defend his charges, omitting the fact that I had my own supply of blue gemstones and blue potions to restore the priestess's mana. It wasn't that I was feeling selfish that day, but it was because I had wanted to see the captain in action once again. I stood just at the doorway, barring entry of any undead as the priestess lapsed into unconsciousness. The Safety Wall flickered for a bit, and completely failed after a short duration. The captain then made a run for it, towards his station near the gate of Payon.

Even though he wore a full plate armor which would probably weigh over 50 kilos, he moved with blinding speed, swinging his greatsword like it weighed nothing. The cold steel sliced through the zombies around him, leaving bisected and headless corpses. As he approached his station, he quickly grabbed a small crate with his left arm, and started wielding his greatsword with his right. He made his way back, but at a slower pace since he was now protecting a fragile box against the horde of undead converging on his position.

Undead were also heading towards the door, but compared to the captain's great strength, mine is still leagues above his. I had started to use a specially crafted Tower Emperium Shield, a ridiculously dense and heavy piece of equipment which could theoretically withstand the combined weight of several cities, once empowered by large sums of mana. It rendered the zombie's flailing arms shreds as they assaulted the impregnable shield, and a small amount of force on my end would send them flying, hitting the trees around the house, completely liquefying their rotten organs from the impact.

The captain came running back, bringing with him the massive horde of riled undead. His eyes went wide at the brilliant golden shield, but said nothing and immediately went inside the house. I thrust the shield firmly into the ground, and went back inside.

The priestess was now awake, and it looked like she was recently restored to life. I had caught the smell of an Yggdrasil berry, its regenerative powers truly makes it a wonder drug for even the most injured adventurer. She had now opened a warp portal, and ushered the archers inside. One by one they warped out, but just after the last archer was sent off, the captain went behind me and tried to push me into the portal as well. He whispered had planned to save us all but himself, as he cannot bear to leave his beloved Payon being desecrated by the undead. Though I understand his reasoning, in my perspective, he is still too weak to rid of all the monsters by himself, and he would surely die if his Butterfly Wing did not activate. His speed truly is blinding, especially wearing that ridiculous plate mail. But just before I made contact with the portal, I quickly grabbed his arm, and threw him in before he could react. The priestess was in a state of shock, but I quickly threw her in too, and silently apologized for what I did. With the entrance of the portal's creator, the tear of space and time on the floor vanished, leaving me with only the sound of the restless undead, futilely trying to break through the shield I had placed.

Disregarding the uselessness of the silver arrows, brute force still worked fine, and after storing my shield in the bottomless knapsack, I managed to find my way to the ancient underground Payon city. The Sohees have gone completely rabid, attacking everything in sight, and waging a never ending war with the Moonlight Flower. This could be the first time that monsters have fought against each other, but seeing that the Sohees were not the most stable monsters to begin with, the sudden surge in power have made them even more dangerous. The Moonlight resurrects itself after awhile, but I fear that the flood of Sohees would eventually pour out of the cave, and obliterate Payon from the map. So I devised a simple solution: blocking the lower floors with titanic boulders, and sealing them with whatever magic I had available. The seal should last for a while, but until the true culprit is dealt with, this is only a temporary solution. I left Payon with a heavy heart, but not before slaughtering as many undead that I can lay my hands on.


End file.
